6.15.2005

tomorrow morning = memorial/awareness bike ride. get up early-ish (starts in park slope at 8 am), don't be a lazy slug. it'll be a mini Critcal Mass, what better way to start your day? nothing is going to change if we don't do something to raise awareness. . . and this is supported by all the organizations that are working to keep you and your friends safe and alive.

NYC Cyclists Demand Protection from Deadly Traffic.Ride from Crash Scene to City Hall.

At 8 am on Thursday, June 16 cyclists representing an alliance of New York City bicycle groups will embark on a Vigil Ride from 5th Avenue and Warren Street in Brooklyn to the steps of City Hall to memorialize Elizabeth Padilla, Brandie Bailey, Jerome Allen and the 201 other NYC bicyclists killed since 1995.

"The sheer volume of vehicles and the heedlessness of drivers leave no room for error on these streets. For cycling to be safe, the City must create more greenways and protected, on-street bike lanes," says Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives. "Bike routes must be at least 5-feet wide with a 2-foot buffer between the bike lane and motorized traffic," says White.

At City Hall at 9 am the alliance will lay down flowers in memory of the 204 fallen cyclists and ask Mayor Bloomberg to convene a multi-agency task force to develop -- in cooperation with the NYC cycling community -- an action plan to prevent further deaths and injuries.

According to data recently release by the NYPD, 9 cyclists have perished in crashes this year, representing a 50% increase in fatalities over the same period in 2004. In the past six weeks, bicyclists Jerome Allen, Brandie Bailey and Elizabeth Padilla were fatally struck by motorists: Jerome, 59, banking administrator, was hit from behind by an SUV on Hylan Boulevard in Staten Island on April 26; Brandie, 21, waitress, was struck by a private sanitation truck on Ave. A in Manhattan on May 10; Elizabeth, 28, attorney, was crushed by a large delivery truck on 5th Ave. and Warren St. in Park Slope on June 9.

All three crashes occurred on streets that carry increasing numbers of cyclists. Two of the three streets -- Hylan Boulevard and north 5th Avenue -- are "recommended bike routes" according to the 2005 NYC Cycling Map published by the City of New York. Yet all three streets, bereft of bicycle lanes, force bicyclists to compete for space with cars and trucks.

"It's time for the NYPD to stop coddling drivers who infringe on cyclists' lawful right to the road," says Charles Komanoff, co-ordinator of the traffic-safety group Right Of Way. "State and city traffic law are full of provisions intended to protect safe cycling, yet virtually none of them are ever enforced," Komanoff says.

An alliance of Transportation Alternatives, Time's Up!, Right Of Way, the New York City Bicycle Messenger Association, and FreeWheels ask Mayor Bloomberg to convene a task force of the Departments of Transportation, Health, Police, City Planning and Parks to develop an action plan to prevent further deaths and injuries to bicyclists.

At the rally, on the steps of City Hall, the alliance will unveil their recommendations for the action plan, which include: rigorous analysis of all cyclist fatalities over the past decade; expansion of the city's personnel capacity to plan and build bicycle facilities; stronger design standards for safe streets; introduction of 15 mph streets; changes to the city traffic rules to prevent "dooring" incidents; public education of motorists as to cyclists' rights and drivers' responsibilities; a requirement to retrofit large trucks with side guards; prioritization of bike routes for inspection, pothole filling and hazard elimination.